One Day Shanghai Tour: Explore Contemporary Art with a Local Guide

Day1 Shanghai

M50 Art Zone on Moganshan Road

The day opens at M50 on Moganshan Road in Putuo, a cluster of old textile-mill and warehouse buildings taken over by artists from the late 1990s and filled now with galleries and studios. The outer walls are given over to large painted graffiti murals, and inside the corridors are hung with shows that change every week or two, from painting and photography to experimental installations. Your guide knows which galleries are open on the day and can explain how the spaces are used, which is the quickest way to get a read on the current art scene in Shanghai.

Tianzifang Lane Studios

Then it is over to Tianzifang, the lane-house quarter around Taikang Road where the walkways are kept as narrow Shikumen alleys but lined with small studios, print shops, and craft sellers. Artists moved into the lanes in the 2000s, and the mix of brick gateways, iron balconies, and workshop signage is the reason people come. It is busy and photogenic, so your guide slips into the quieter side lanes to miss the worst of the crowds and can point you to a stall for a handmade print or a small piece, with room to browse and sit for a coffee.

1933 Old Bund

The afternoon heads to 1933 Old Bund, a white concrete building by Suzhou Creek that was raised in 1933 as the Shanghai Municipal slaughterhouse. Its odd interior, a web of ramps and bridged walkways around open staircases, was designed to move cattle between floors without their slipping, and the lattice steel structure is Art Deco of the period. The abattoir closed and the shell was rebuilt as a creative complex of design studios, shops, and restaurants, and your guide uses the ramps to show how the city has reused its industrial past.

Duolun Road and the Writers

The last stop is Duolun Road in Hongkou, a short street that was the address of a run of Chinese writers in the 1920s and 1930s. Several former homes and small literary museums sit along it, with the Lu Xun park and memorial close by, and the lane houses here have kept their old street frontages. Your guide fills in who lived where and what was being written at the time, which turns a quiet residential street into a picture of the literary scene of wartime Shanghai. It is the calm part of the day after the busy galleries.

The End of Day One

At the close, your guide drives you back to your Shanghai hotel or, if that suits you better, to the train station, since both are covered on this tour. Dinner is not part of the price, so before you go the guide can suggest a neighbourhood place for Shanghai cooking, or you can simply rest for the second day. Tell the guide your evening plans and any dietary needs so the next morning can be timed around them.

Day 2 Shanghai

Wukang Road in the Old Concession

Day two starts on Wukang Road in the old French Concession, a street of villas and apartment blocks from the 1920s under a canopy of plane trees. The corner landmark is the Wukang Mansion, a flatiron block finished in 1924 and designed by the Hungarian-born architect Laszlo Hudec, who also built his own house a short walk away. Your guide reads the street through its architecture, the gated gardens, and the old names carved on the gateposts, which is the plainest way to see what the concession has become.

The Bund Waterfront

Then it is down to the Bund, the riverside promenade of banks and trading houses built mainly between the 1890s and the 1930s. Your guide walks the row past the Customs House with its clock tower and the old Sassoon House, now the Peace Hotel, and uses them to tell how Shanghai grew into a treaty-port trading capital. Face east and across the Huangpu sits Pudong, the towers the guide lines up for you, the Oriental Pearl, the Jin Mao, the World Financial Center, and the 632 metre Shanghai Tower. This stretch is where the old stone bank and the new glass skyline fall within a single look.

Nanjing Road Shopping Street

Next is Nanjing Road, the main shopping street of the city, whose eastern mile was closed to traffic and paved for walkers in 1999. It mixes the grand old department-store buildings from the 1910s and 1920s with the flagship shops, the neon, and the crowds it is known for. Your guide sets a route through it so you see the shop windows and the historic facades without drifting the whole afternoon, and it is an easy place for a snack or a small gift. If you would rather look than buy, the guide can keep the stop short.

The Shanghai Art Museum

The day ends at the Shanghai Art Museum, housed in the old Shanghai Race Club building, an Art Deco block facing People Square. Your guide takes you through the galleries, which run across Chinese painting and sculpture of the last century, so the contemporary thread you began with at M50 on day one is set against older work. It is a calm indoor finish after a day on the streets.

The End of the Tour

At the end, your guide drives you to your Shanghai hotel or, if you prefer, to the Shanghai train station, since those are the two drop-off points this tour covers. There is no airport transfer built into this trip, so if you are flying out, arrange that leg separately and leave enough time between the drop-off and your flight. Tell the guide the morning what you need at the end and the day is planned around getting you there on time.

What is the theme of this two-day tour?

The art and creative quarters of Shanghai and the old city around them. Day one is the gallery zones, M50 on Moganshan Road, the Tianzifang lanes, the 1933 Old Bund complex, and the writers street at Duolun Road. Day two widens out to Wukang Road, the Bund, Nanjing Road, and the Shanghai Art Museum, so the thread through both days is how the city turns its old buildings into spaces for art and shopping.

Why is it two days?

The art stops sit across different districts on the north, west, and centre of the city, and several of them reward a slow look rather than a drive-past, so the tour is split over two days with a night at a Shanghai hotel. If you only have a single day, M50, Tianzifang, and the Bund can be compressed into a shorter private day if you ask.

Where does the tour start and end?

At your Shanghai hotel or the Shanghai train station, the same two options at both ends. This tour does not include an airport transfer, so plan any flight around the hotel or the station drop-off.

Do I need to understand contemporary art?

No. Your guide explains what is hung in each gallery and how the spaces work, and you can move through an exhibition quickly or slow down and ask questions. The art is a way to read the city, and the day holds up even if you mainly want to see the buildings and the lanes.

Are dinner or museum entry included?

Dinner is not part of the price, and day one ends with the guide suggesting a local place to eat. Many of the art spaces are free to walk through, but the Shanghai Art Museum and some ticketed shows cost extra, so confirm with your consultant which entries are bundled into your quote before you book.

How much walking is involved?

Mostly on foot with short car hops between the districts. Tianzifang and Nanjing Road are crowded, Wukang Road and Duolun Road are quieter, and the galleries and the museum give you indoor time between the walking, so wear comfortable shoes and expect a full, mixed day.

Price Per Person in US Dollars